Homeless Man Recovers After Legs Set On Fire
GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ/AP) - A homeless man in West Michigan is being treated for burns after being set on fire.
Courtney Lister, a 48-year-old unemployed handyman, said he fell asleep on Aug. 30 and woke up to find his "lap ... on fire." He tried to put out the flames and said he doesn't know how he got to the hospital.
Lister told MLive.com that he suspects someone sprayed him with lighter fluid and then set his legs ablaze.
Lister suffered third-degree burns and has spent a month at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital with third-degree burns to both legs. Nine skin grafts have been performed. Lister expects to be hospitalized another month because doctors are concerned about infections.
Lister says a few nights before he was set on fire he woke to find a group of teens trying to steal the backpack he used as a pillow. He suspects those same teens are the ones who set him on fire.
No arrests have been made.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the Grand Rapids Police Department at 616-456-3604 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.
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